The overpopulation of certain species can pose a threat to marine life and their ecosystems. For example, in recently years, lionfish populations have become difficult to control in certain areas, leading many fishermen and divers to target them in attempt to reduce their population numbers. However, these fishermen and divers do not currently have the resources to significantly reduce population numbers. In particular, the existing technology lacks the ability to provide selective harvesting in large quantities, while also enabling efficient collection and without significantly increasing costs.
Methods for capturing lionfish up to this point have included using spears and other tools to capture the fish and bring them to the surface individually or in limited quantities. These methods are insufficient to be implemented in large scale operations. There also have been a few attempts to develop remotely operated vehicles, also known as ROVs, that function in an aquatic environment and are capable of seeking, approaching, and capturing the lionfish. But, thus far, the ROVs have had many operational difficulties and have not been suitable for large scale operations.
One known ROV implements a hook and line method using bait, but the bait attractant is non-specific and lures many fish species. In addition, this method can only capture a limited number of fish (e.g., one per baited line), and it also runs the risk of being carried away by a captured fish attempting to escape. Another known ROV uses a retractable spear to stab fish and pull them into a container. However, this ROV is not very effective because it has a large frontal profile, which reduces agility, and smaller bucket size, which prevents large quantities of fish from being captured at a time. It is also a complex design with a lot of moving parts, which reduces reliability and increases costs. Another known ROV uses twin electrode panels to stun the lionfish and bucket-type collection. This ROV also has a suction device at the front of the vehicle that draws the fish into the bucket after it is stunned. This system has several drawbacks. Like the other known ROVs, the ROV's capacity is limited to the size of the bucket, which prevents the user from capturing large quantities of lionfish, causing frequent water surfacing. The large frontal profile of the bucket chassis also limits the speed and agility of the device. Additionally, the suction device location at the front of the ROV limits its effectiveness, and during harvesting operations, fish in the bucket can interfere with the suction device. Finally, all prior ROVs discussed above have poor modularity and do not allow an operator to easily add, change, and/or remove parts between operations.
The disclosed remote operated vehicle and methods thereof are directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.